As is commonly known, it is desirable for air entering an engine of a motor vehicle to be cooled, especially after exiting a turbocharger or a supercharger, because cooler air will have an increased density that maximizes an efficiency of the engine. In certain situations, the cooling of the air may also facilitate engine management and eliminate pre-detonation of the air and a fuel prior to a timed spark ignition. Additionally, the cooling of the air militates against excessive wear or heat damage to an engine block of the engine.
Heat exchangers such as water-cooled charge air coolers (WCAC) can be used in the motor vehicle to cool the air that has been compressed by the turbocharger or the supercharger prior to entering the engine. Typically, for application specific needs such as space constraints in a vehicle, for example, WCACs utilize a coolant from one or more sources and may include a heat exchange core with plates having multi-pass configurations.
In certain applications, it may be desirable to mount the WCAC within a manifold of the engine or directly to the engine block. However, to achieve vibration goals and cost savings, it is advantageous to continually improve heat exchangers and WCACs.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for mounting an outlet tank of a heat exchanger directly to an engine block of a motor vehicle while maintaining a structural integrity and minimizing a manufacturing cost thereof.